Driver capability monitoring

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, a vehicle system for a vehicle capable of being both autonomously driven and human driven comprises a plurality of sensors on the vehicle for transmitting information about the vehicle environment and the response of the vehicle to actions implemented by at least one of the autonomous control and the human control and a controller for implementing automated control on the vehicle. The controller has an input for receiving vehicle information from the plurality of sensors, a memory for storing vehicle response results when the vehicle is under human control and an autonomous driving model; and control logic for comparing the information of the vehicle response results when under human control to the autonomous driving model. The control logic switches to autonomous control when the vehicle driving response results under human control are not reasonably comparable to the autonomous driving model.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle system for a vehicle capable of being both autonomously driven and human driven comprising:
 a plurality of sensors on the vehicle for transmitting information about the vehicle environment and the response of the vehicle to actions implemented by at least one of the autonomous control and the human control;   a controller for implementing automated control on the vehicle, the controller having:
 an input for receiving vehicle information from the plurality of sensors; 
 a memory for storing an autonomous driving model and vehicle response results when the vehicle is under human control; and 
 control logic for comparing the information of the vehicle response results when under human control to the autonomous driving model, wherein the control logic switches to autonomous control when the vehicle driving response results under human control are not reasonably comparable to the autonomous driving model. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the control logic further indicates to the human driver that the autonomous control has been activated. 
     
     
         3 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the human driver can override the autonomous control and the memory will record the human override action. 
     
     
         4 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the response of the vehicle information collected includes at least one of braking force, following distance to a forward vehicle, lane keeping, distance to a non-vehicle obstacle and speed in special zones. 
     
     
         5 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the autonomous driving model is created from vehicle information when the vehicle is under autonomous control. 
     
     
         6 . The system as in  claim 1 , wherein the autonomous driving model is loaded into the memory of the controller by one of a manufacturer of the vehicle, a fleet manager and an insurance company. 
     
     
         7 . A controller for implementing automated driving functions on a vehicle, the vehicle being capable of both autonomous control and human control comprising:
 an input for receiving information about the vehicle environment and the response of the vehicle to action implemented by at least one of the autonomous control and the human control from associated sensors on the vehicle;   a memory for storing vehicle response information when the vehicle is under human control and an autonomous driving model; and   control logic for comparing the information of the vehicle response when under human control to vehicle results when the vehicle is under autonomous control, wherein the control logic switches to automated control if the vehicle results under human control is not reasonably comparable to the vehicle results under autonomous control.   
     
     
         8 . A method for controlling a vehicle comprising:
 receiving information about the vehicle environment and the response of the vehicle to action implemented by at least one of the autonomous control and the human control from associated sensors on the vehicle;   storing vehicle response information when the vehicle is under human control;   comparing the information of the vehicle response when under human control to an autonomous driving model; and   switching to automated control in response to the vehicle results under human control not being reasonably comparable to the autonomous driving model.   
     
     
         9 . The method as in  claim 8 , wherein switching to automated control occurs in a restricted driving zone. 
     
     
         10 . The method as in  claim 8 , wherein switching to automated control means that the speed of the vehicle when under human control is limited to a predetermined speed. 
     
     
         11 . The method as in  claim 8 , further comprising: creating the autonomous driving model while the vehicle is under autonomous control and storing the autonomous driving model in a memory for comparison to the vehicle response when under human control. 
     
     
         12 . The method as in  claim 8 , further comprising: entering a preconfigured autonomous driving model and storing the autonomous driving model in a memory for comparison to the vehicle response when under human control.